bassbiscuits

The most I’ve ever spent on a bass was £2,200 on a Lull PJ4 about eight years ago. It was a necessity as I needed a lightweight bass at the time and sold two other USA Fenders to fund it. That was a big investment for me (though ultimately it wasn’t the right bass for me anyway). Apart from that one-off, I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than £600 on a bass. Plenty in that price range and below that work just fine for my needs.

I think I’d consider £1,000 as the threshold for me, based on the difficulty I’d have replacing something of that value. Mind you my cheap basses are also hard to replace as they’re all 20-odd years old. Just slightly less crippling financially if I needed to do so.

Ha ha yep I do the same. I find joy in playing cheapy basses even though I know my “better” ones would be great. Sometimes I just love the chance to play seven shades out of a cheap bass on stage and making it work for me. I do feel bad when I leave a bass at home as they are meant to be gigged. First world problems tho eh

PM’d you

Depends what the other issues are. The wood grain in the top wouldn’t bother me at all, but if you’ve had two basses each with problems I’d be more concerned about deciding whether those are acceptable.

Yeah it’s got a definite “stable” vibe on that pic! I’ve only been there for the guitar Christmas shows but yeah maybe it doubles up as a gazebo in the summer….

Just back home from the annual Christmas guitar club concert in my local village hall. Two concerts - one for the younger learners and one for the older more proficient kids. Amazing to see them progress over the years in confidence and musical skills. I bring the PA, the lights and an extra pair of hands to help with setting up and sorting/tuning etc between performers, as well as donating my bass rig for the evening, being their soundman and guesting on the odd song. Proper Christmas thing. Excuse the dull pic but it’s all I managed.

And I had some Ohm PA speakers up until a few years ago. Very decent.

I get that it’s modelled on his original P bass before modifications. But surely if it’s meant to be his signature bass, then it’s exactly those modifications which make it different from a bog standard P bass? Seems a bit “couldn’t be arsed” on Fender’s behalf. At least the Dave Murray black Strat reflects his World Slavery Tour-era HSH modded Strat.

Last gig of the year with the Andy Wales Band at Bar Dos Hermanos in Leicester. Busiest I’ve seen it in all the times we’ve played there, tho thankfully a massive crowd of really rowdy chanting lads moved on elsewhere before we started yay. Good few friends and family of various members were there which is often the kiss of death in my experience but not so. Went with Elton’s Step Into Christmas which mostly worked (complete with surprisingly fiddly bass part) and also chucked in Green Onions and I Am The Resurrection in tribute to Steve Cropper and Mani respectively. I was wedged against a pillar unfortunately so tried to lean on it nonchalantly from time to time and attempted to look cool. I wasn’t having a great day up to then and was a bit narky so it was nice to have two hours of leathering my bass onstage to get it all out of my system. Cheaper than therapy. Gear was the usual Markbass Traveller cabs and LM3 head; pair of Yamaha basses, various pedals, Mackie powered cabs and Allen and Heath desk. Footwear by Converse. Tea by Twinings.

Has been withdrawn it appears, with the reserve having not been met.

I use a Vox Bass Amplug, connected to my laptop and some headphones. Cheap and cheerful. Does the job nicely.

Yeah it was nice. It’s an old sort of mansion house that was revamped a few years back into a wedding venue/restaurant/hotel etc. Lovely looking venue.

Well, not really. The audience are much further away than me from my backline and are getting a mix of the front of house PA sound with perhaps some of my backline too. It ain’t the same sound as me standing in front of my cabs. 100% agree with seeing what works for the room tho - I do the same and go as far as my lead will allow during sound checks to get an overall idea. As you say, it’s the overall sound that matters. But to return to the OPs query, I was just trying to suggest some areas to explore for sorting his sound. As I say, I’m just going from my experience and fully expect others to have different ideas.

Oh absolutely. The sound you want onstage is what works with a band and cuts through.

Just a thought but check the specs on your Ashdown 4x10 - namely what the frequency response is. An open E is 40hz, so speakers that don’t go down to frequencies as low as that might sound a bit lacking. Also, SPL sensitivity of speakers is a better guide of how efficient they are than handling power. In terms of the angled / stacked speaker cabs, I’d have to disagree in my experience. The only times I’ve done that I’ve hated the sound - too harsh and right behind my head. You might find it works, but if your cab and amp are capable then it shouldn’t be the difference between heating yourself or not. If it’s a one-off problem it could be the room - some rooms just sound horrible. In terms of Barefaced cabs, you might find they're your cup of tea or not. They are very light, loud and efficient. But they respond like PA speakers (full range flat response) rather than bass speakers. Excellent if you want perfect clarity of whatever sound you’re putting in. Less good if (like me) you rely on the way the bass speakers respond as part of your overall sound. Just my opinions obviously, and I’m sure plenty would disagree with them. Edit - Barefaced newer 10s stuff is apparently more vintage voiced than older ones, so my opinion may be out of date as well as questionable….

I definitely agree re the logo being something put on later. Ibanez logos from that era are sort of weird curly lettering, rather than the late 80s version onward which you've got. It may well be something other than Ibanez. Hard to gauge from those pics - there were a lot of very budget MIJ basses as well as the more legendary ones. As it stands only the neckplate refers to Japan in anyway. Would be handy to see the machine heands, and if there's anything on the pickups or pots which might give its origin away. Glad it sounds cool whatever it may be!

Just got back in from depping on a gig as part of a big fundraising evening for a blood cancer charity in Leicester’s Winstanley House. Lovely venue, huge room. Pretty late gig, starting at 10pm, but people were still up for a dance and it was pretty lively. Got completely lost in the dark trying to get out (I’ve only lived in Leicester for 20 years….) and was gonna find a McDonald’s on way home but it was super late and I couldn’t be bothered. Gear was my old vintage P bass with its new Labella DTB flats, thru the usual Markbass traveller rig and pedal board. Flatwounds have been the sound in my head for a while for this sort of material and tho I took a BB bass with me I only used it for the final song. Footwear was by Clarks. Black jeans by M&S.

I think Leicester miles are different from other miles too. Satnavs do silly things like calculate distance / speed to give you ETA on routes. But those rules don’t apply in Leicester. Five miles could take you 10 mins or two hours.

http://www.howardsmith.co.uk Can’t recommend him highly enough. He’s great.

If you can stretch to Leicester, I can very much recommend Howard Smith for guitar work. He’s done all manner of work on my kit and that of many of Leicester’s gigging musos for years. He’s a top man.

Indeed. My brother, who is also the guitarist in one of my bands, is undergoing chemo for stage 4 cancer. We’ve managed to keep gigging while he’s still feeling well enough to do so, but that will come to an end at some point in the future. One of its many impacts has been this focus on the present moment rather than a future which may not happen. I’m guilty as charged of being busy now on things that will pay dividends in future, but the current situation is bringing home to me the importance of making the most of present time as well.

The place we use has a very old Ashdown ABM300 head into a Ashdown Mag 4x10 cab. Turns out it sounds huge! Which is handy as parking in the area is scarce and travelling light is the way to go.